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Heart racing from the near miss, I lift my head cautiously. Wyatt peers down at me, face inches away. I flush, overly aware of his solid weight pinning me into the sand, his arms caging me in. “Uh, thanks,” I mumble awkwardly. “Good reflexes.”
“I’ve got you,” he says simply. And though it’s part of his paid role here, the promise in his stormy eyes makes my breath catch.
What could possibly go wrong if we just…
A pointed throat-clearing shatters the moment. Wilder ambles over, looking thoroughly amused. “Y’all gonna help rebuild or should Emrys and I do all the work?”
Wyatt stands swiftly and offers me a hand up, studiously avoiding my gaze. I sigh inwardly. Back to sandcastles it is. This complicated knot we’re tangled in will have to wait.
“Thirty minutes remaining!” My dad’s shout carries on the breeze over where he’s flirting with my mom as she playfully swats off his advances while working on their own castle.
You wouldn’t think my mother–as pristine and appearance focused as she is–would ever get her hands dirty. But my parents are good like that. He draws her out of her shell and brings the fun, and she centers him, preventing his wild nature from growing too chaotic.
I smile softly as she giggles at something he says before focusing on the task at hand. As we patch up our battered castle, I take the opportunity to scan the competition, mind whirring. Time to turn the tables and take the offensive.
I sidle up to Wilder with an innocent smile. "Feel like doing a little reconnaissance work for me, Cowboy?"
His cobalt eyes light up, intrigued. "Now you're speaking my language, darlin'. What did you have in mind?"
I nod discreetly toward Annabelle's team's creation–an elaborate gothic castle complete with soaring buttresses and creepy gargoyles. "I may have some intel that a certain team is particularly protective of their south wall," I say meaningfully.
Wilder grins, catching my drift quick as a whip. "Say no more. I believe some structural instability may soon strike." He saunters off casually and I have to smother my answering grin.
Wyatt sidles up next to me with a quirked brow. "Dare I ask what sort of scheme you just put into motion?"
I widen my eyes innocently. "Now Wyatt, you know good girls don't sabotage sandcastles." Wyatt just smiles, seeing right through my angelic act.
Emrys chimes in with a low rumble of his voice, pretending like he’s just speaking under his breath. "Yes, and lions don't growl, and bears don't sleep in the woods."
“Exactly!” I wink playfully at them both.
Nearby, Wilder pretends to admire Annabelle’s castle walls with exaggerated interest. My sister eyes him warily, guarding her creation from potential threats.
Perfect. While Annabelle focuses on Wilder, she misses me creeping up behind, concealing a bucket of seawater. I’ve got this distraction game down to a science.
My moment comes when Wilder engages Annabelle and Ethan in conversation, drawing all eyes his way. I slip out and stealthily douse the base of the south wall before darting safely back undercover. Right on cue, a chunk of the castle slides down with a satisfying splat.
Annabelle’s enraged, “Hey!”, carries across the sand as I try and fail to smother my triumphant grin. Sandcastle sabotage is as good as therapy.
Wyatt sidles up next to me, amusement glinting in his gray eyes. “Remind me never to get on your bad side,” he notes with a chuckle.
I bat my eyelashes innocently. “Who, me? I’m nothing but sugar.”
Wyatt’s gaze dips down, tracing my lips in a way that leaves me breathless. “Obviously…”
Before I can summon any semblance of a coherent response, Wilder ambles back over. “One castle down, two to go. Who’s next on our hit list, your majesty?”
I survey the beach critically like a general planning my next offensive strike. "Let's see how cousin Joey's crew handles a surprise crab invasion..."
As we scheme our next move, laughter comes easy and the sunlight seems to shine a bit brighter. And though I know this playful camaraderie is only fleeting, I intend to enjoy every delicious second of it.
I'm patting the last decorative shell into place when Dad's voice rings out across the beach.
"Fifteen minutes left, castle crews!"
A spike of panic shoots through me. There's still so much left to do! Our castle has come a long way from the humble lump of sand we started with, but it's still missing some key elements.
"Battle stations, team!" I bark, clapping my sandy hands together. "Wyatt, finish carving out the moat. Emrys, keep working on reinforcing that front gate. Wilder, we need more seashells for ornamentation, stat!"
